As Washington careens through one headline-grabbing, self-imposed fiscal crisis after another, one in 3 Americans faces a daily crisis of poverty or low-wage jobs that is barely a topic of conversation in Congress or the media
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As Washington careens through one headline-grabbing, self-imposed fiscal crisis after another, one in three Americans faces a daily crisis of poverty or low-wage jobs that is barely a topic of conversation in Congress or the media.

The richest 1 percent of the U.S. population has more aggregate wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. Yet one in three of us is struggling just to make ends meet. We now have levels of inequality usually associated with countries like South Africa or Nigeria. While unchecked public debt could pose a future economic threat, unthinking “across the board” budget cuts today will have an immediate impact on the working poor, the near poor, and countless others fighting to keep their heads above water.

The relationship between national budget priorities and poverty and inequality are both American issues and global ones.

Oxfam has fought against poverty and economic injustice for 70 years in the world’s poorest nations. Currently we operate on the ground in more than 90 countries and see extreme dichotomies between wealthy elites and the desperately poor in places from Sudan and India to Cambodia and Mexico. We see the ravages of poverty and the corrosive effect that gross inequality has on civil society and democracy, as well as how it stalls economic growth.

Growing inequality is a global concern. It was a major theme of the 2012 World Economic Forum and is being increasingly seen as a threat to national and global security. At the heart of this debate is the paradox of middle and lower income families bearing the bulk of the social and economic costs of volatile economic growth, while wages stagnate or decline, pensions disappear, and investments to broaden economic opportunity like health, education and social insurance are slashed. More and more, countries are faced with choices of whether or how to make growth inclusive.

As a global development organization, Oxfam believes poverty is about power, not scarcity. As Americans, we believe that our nation must lead. Poverty and inequality, and the social exclusion they breed, are wrongs to be righted, whether they occur in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or the United States. Our nation has long presented itself to the world as the model of successful, inclusive growth that lifts millions into the middle class. While that was true during the decades after World War II, since the 1970s, the story has been very different. That is simply not the case today.

America’s poverty rate is now at its highest level in two generations. Contrary to the American Dream of broad-based upward mobility, the United States ranks 10th out 12 OECD countries in social mobility. In addition, our country has the highest proportion of low-wage workers of any developed country — people who work hard but earn less than $10.50 an hour and are barely able to make ends meet.

Poverty is the result of imbalances in power that privilege some and marginalize others. More than mere economics, poverty affects human rights. Because we believe that governments must protect and expand human rights, we further believe that while markets have a role to play in improving the livelihoods of marginalized populations, they must be guided by the public interest and held accountable by citizen oversight. Whether across the globe or here at home, nations and peoples must shape their own development.

Therefore, a government’s budget, like all public policy, should not only reflect our values, but be means to an end. Fiscal policies — public spending and taxes — should focus on investments in broadly shared prosperity. That is why Oxfam — which already has on-the-ground programs with farmworkers and in poor, coastal areas — is becoming more deeply involved in addressing poverty, the working poor, low wage jobs and inequality at the national level.

We are engaging a wide range of Americans — economists, activists, journalists, faith leaders, and others — shine a spotlight on the injustice of America’s inequalities. We are listening to the experiences and concerns of the poor, with the goal of bringing their voices to a national audience.

More than 100 million Americans —1 in 3 of us — live in or near poverty, struggling every day. We need a lively national conversation about how we can right this wrong.

Ending poverty must and will occur as a result of deliberate and equitable fiscal choices and policies – not blunt chopping instruments. This must be the overriding goal of our society and our budgets.

Ray Offenheiser is president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit international development organization. This article is part of an Oxfam initiative to focus greater attention on poverty and low-wage work in America.

Wednesday April 3, 2013, 3:57 pm
First of all, we will always have poverty in our country. To say that our country will never have families at the poverty level would be a utopia....because people live at the poverty level for different reasons. We, as a country, cannot control personal choices.

In 2008 our country elected Barack Hussein Obama as our first black president....and he did not win by a landslide although there were many "feel good " votes for Obama. Americans voted for Obama based on his arrogant and forceful campaign speeches. He was going to fundamentally change our country. Now, let's think about that. Obama killed the jobs in our country hence people in poverty. Who are these people? Are these people who lost their jobs? I would think so. Instead of turning to the job engine in our country where 53% of Americans are employed he turned to his "legacy" healthcare bill which is in the toilet today. Meanwhile, our small businesses suffered and jobs were shed and no new jobs were added.

Have a problem with poverty in our country? I do. Direct your emails and letters to the White House and ask Obama why he didn't instill confidence in our country and our small business owners to grow their businesses and add new employees?

Wednesday April 3, 2013, 5:00 pm
Correction--send your concerns and letters about jobs and poverty to the responsible officials:
to the US House of Representatives who must initiate all bills with price tags and who have refused to act on (Is it already a baker's dozen Obama gave them?)--they, with Boehner and Cantor's absence of leadership, hold the responsibility for this problem and for continuing to do everything possible the economic experts say would make it worse--they would rather sacrifice the people and country then help it improve while he is POTUS.

Poverty is always about power and control. After WWII the government put some regulations on business to attempt to prevent another crash. We were very successful at avoiding melt down, if not some inflation and deflation cycles. We need not get into those. Where we can look is what begins to happen to this country as soon as those many "tiny" tweaks in the laws begin occurring. For the straight up small business owner, these regulations were his best friend to stay competitive with the growing larger corporations. With majority of the wealth of the nation in the hands of the many not the few, we stayed balanced in the salary to cost of living ratios. That's gone. We have watched it dwindle for 30 years as big companies forced small out of business, as Vulture capitalists, took over businesses to inject capital, in fact to borrow capital in on that business and flip a profit. Often after that dismantling the whole company, or shipping jobs overseas. That sure makes some money for the few, but eats into the stability of the economic base. It's taken us time to get, here. We have lost that something special that made us a unique experiment in the world. For 30 + years now we can see the erosion of all that kept corporations some what honest, kept a check and balance on salaries and work place conditions, and wages so that average workers could meet their monthly bills and have something for saving. That is all gone now.

I guess for some if they don't SEE poverty than it just is not there. Nearly 2 million children in the United States are homeless and living on the streets. Almost half, 42% are under the age of 6, that is something out of a Charles Dickens novel, true then, sadly true now. (check with SPLC for exact details on homeless, hunger, children etc....)

Wednesday April 3, 2013, 6:30 pm
Excellent factual expository of exactly where the roots and problems lie that need to be addressed to solve this issue Kit! And thank you for the url of the excellent post from over a year ago for any who need to do their "homework" to begin to understand this issue.

Wednesday April 3, 2013, 9:52 pm
Thanks JL. It is good that OXFAM is lending their voice to Americas working poor and poor otherwise know as the Greed Mongers reducing America to 3rd world status. Just think how much the trillions of dollars the corporations avoid paying in taxes by shipping their money outside our country could help America. If OXFAM really wants to help then they must expose how rampant this practice is now. Starbucks, HP, IBM, Apple, Chevron and more are denying hard working Americans a fair wage and middle class living standard. Americans have to stand up too.

Wednesday April 3, 2013, 9:54 pm
Sorry I didn't word that comment very well. It is good that OXFAM is lending their voice to America's working poor and poor. The greed mongers are reducing America to 3rd world status. ...

Thursday April 4, 2013, 2:55 am
Obama has been office 4.5 years. What has HE done about this horrible truth? Do you believe that the healthcare tax penalty has created reduction in full time hours? How about our continued high unemployment? Why didn't Obama early in 2009 turn immediately to our small businesses where 53% of Americans work and give them a guaranteed five year plan of no tax hikes and government backed business loans? Obama left the middle class and lower middle class Americans out to dry. Instead he spent an entire year on his legacy healthcare bill which is coming apart at the seams. Even the exchanges have now been delayed until 2015....Such incompetence!

Like you, I am concerned about poverty in our country. As Americans, we need to take our concerns to Barack Obama and ask him why? Why has poverty increased under his watch?

Thursday April 4, 2013, 6:37 am
I read last night that McDonald's in some states is starting to require a BA just to hold down a server's job. Removal of the gold standard under Nixon; repeal of Glass-Steagall; Vulture capitalism; globalism and outsourcing; sub prime mortgage fiasco; following control of the world markets by the Five Mega Corps leads to what? The poor we always have with us but the situation today has been manufactured to suit someone's sick plan for the world.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 7:32 am
Correction once again:
Send your concerns and letters about jobs and poverty to the responsible officials:
to the US House of Representatives who must initiate all bills with price tags and who have refused to act on (Is it already a baker's dozen Obama gave them?)--they, with Boehner and Cantor's absence of leadership, hold the responsibility for this problem and for continuing to do everything possible the economic experts say would make it worse--they would rather sacrifice the people and country then help it improve while he is POTUS. Obama has had to fight the GOP to wrest some control over the corporations responsible. He even had to fight the GOP to give small businesses the breaks they got because their goal was to trash the economy during his presidency.

Thank you Michael and Kit for providing the facts for those willing to read and learn.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 10:18 am
Obama sold the Americans a "Job's Bill" in 2009....rushed it through....spewed fear if we didn't do it....and that $860 billion failed stimulus produced at few jobs at a cost of $350,000 a year and when all the private green companies went bankrupt the jobs WE paid for went with them.

Obama did the wrong thing in early 2009.....he IGNORED the job engines in our country. Now, if some of you want to keep your intellectual heads in the sand keep them there. That way you won't have a need to pay attention to what is really going on in our country.

Obama gave our small businesses very little and then in a double punch their taxes went UP and they are now faced with the healthcare penalty tax. Yes, PLEASE praise Obama for the way he has treated our small businesses.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 11:23 am
The topic remains poverty, which is far beyond jobs in economic terms of what is needed to adequately address.
Thank you Terry for correcting a non-fact, like I have twice now to no avail.
Thank you Kit, Sherri and Michael for adding facts relevant to the topic and what is needed to address this issue. I'll add a relevant quote from the article here:
"That is why Oxfam — which already has on-the-ground programs with farmworkers and in poor, coastal areas — is becoming more deeply involved in addressing poverty, the working poor, low wage jobs and inequality at the national level." Jobs bills and small business tax breaks do not get the biggest impact of available options in addressing these identified issues.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 11:48 am
Sounds like most people in the same boat wherever you are unless you are in that top 5 percent or whatever of the rich Cant see it ever being any different now but then governments really like most of the people poor They are much more controllable people so busy wondering how to pay their bills and eat they have no time to worry what the government is up to or whats going on

Thursday April 4, 2013, 11:53 am
You are welcome Carol and thank you for sharing your UK perspective on how global the problem is, in keeping with the topic of this thread. You cannot currently send a star to Carol because you have done so within the last day.

For the third straight week, the number of Americans filing for new unemployment benefits rose. Thursday's increase was quite dramatic. Though economists expected new claims to fall to 350,000, claims actually rose to 385,000 -- the highest number since November.

The four-week rolling average also increased to 354,250.

This news comes a day after even worse news was released about job creation. According to Reuters, "private employers added the fewest jobs in five months in March."

Though February did bring good news from the labor market -- 236,000 new private sector jobs and a dip in the unemployment rate -- there was speculation that unseasonably warm weather had caused an artificial bump in February hiring, especially in theconstruction business.

In other words, rather than the economy creating an improved job-creation situation, the weather created an artificial sugar high where jobs normally created in March were poached in February. If that's the case, there will be no net increase in new jobs created this spring.

If what we have here is a trend in which the job-creation situation is getting worse, this is terrible news for America's poor -- those living on the margins and smacked hardest by any negative trend in the American economy. Wednesday, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau, we learned that poverty in America has just hit its highest level since the Lyndon Johnson administration. A full one-in-six, roughly 50 million Americans, now live below the poverty line.

Even worse news for America's poor, though, is that no one cares about their plight. Desperate to keep Obama politically viable, rather than focus on the increase in poverty, our anemic GDP, and weak job growth, the media instead focuses on gun control and immigration reform -- the divisive cultural issues that keep Obama in the 50% approval range.

Nothing can drain a president's approval rating and political strength faster than a bad economy for which he is responsible. So rather than focus on the economy, which might result in some action that improves the situation for America's poor, Obama and his media choose to pretend none of this is happening.

Passing by that inappropriate submission above, (the article) to make a inquiry. What do each of us do about poverty? If anything is really broken it's the human connection. Do you get out to homeless shelters or food kitchens to help feed people? If you have the extra money do you take food to the local food pantry or food bank? The best ways to help are through human contact. When the TP is finally wash up and dried up, then we will have a Congress that can act for the people not for their determent.

Is so easy to lay all of the blame at the feet of one person, easy and disingenuous, add to that remarkably lacking in historical context or use of earth based facts.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 3:08 pm
Unemployment During President George W. Bush’s Two Terms (this is one person's evaluation)

With the news out today that the monthly unemployment rate had “fallen” to 9.7 percent, I decided to look back at the monthly figures for President George W. Bush’s two terms at the White House. The numbers are revealing. The highest monthly average prior to the late 2008 financial crisis was 6.3 percent. His overall monthly average was 5.3 percent.
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UPDATE: Today’s POLITICO Arena question was “Will tepid job growth hurt or help Dems in November?” Below is my response, which can also be seen here.

Incumbent Democrats may be the only people finding satisfaction in the fact that the federal employee rolls grew by more than 400,000. These government jobs accounted for 95 percent of the jobs created this month. As for as the unemployment rate “falling” to 9.7 percent, context is important. Prior to the credit market freeze in September 2008, the highest monthly unemployment rate during President George W. Bush’s two terms was 6.3 percent. The overall average monthly unemployment rate during his 8 years in office was 5.3 percent. The tax relief President Bush signed into law pulled America out of the recession he inherited in 2001 and spurred six years of uninterrupted economic growth and a record 52 straight months of job creation.

President Obama’s policies to deal with economic challenges have been diametrically opposite to his predecessor’s. Obama’s higher taxes, job-killing government intervention and massive deficit spending have sent us down a destructive fiscal path. His policies have failed based on his own yardstick. President Obama has not held unemployment under 8 percent as his administration promised would happen if the massive $787 billion government spending package was adopted by Congress.

Capitalism built our country and capitalism is the only thing that can save it. So, liberals, if you did away with capitalism in our country who do you think will pay the bills for the entitlement people? No capitalism....no jobs. No capitalism....no food stamps. No capitalism.....no strong military. No capitalism...no revenue....no taxes flowing into the government to pay the bills.

Think, liberals.

President Obama is incompetent. He hasn't accomplished anything since he has been in office. Not one of you have defended the failed $860 billion stimulus which was Obama's idea and sold to us through fear that if we didn't do it our economy would collapse. The stimulus failed. It didn't create any jobs. The green companies all went bankrupt. So, what is your explanation for that? Can't blame the republicans. They voted for it thinking it might be a real job's bill which it wasn't.

Obama has failed our country. Other than the Lily Ledbetter act how has he strengthened our economy and achieved low unemployment? He hasn't. You'll say "well, the republicans created gridlock. The republican House was voted in by the American people in November 2010 to stop Obama's spending frenzy and they have held to their campaign promises....that's why they got elected....to stop the spending.

Not only a poor leader, Obama, as a seasoned community organizer, brought to our White House no semblance of experience in anything. He had a good, strong voice. Other than that, he distanced himself from most in the White House and became a "loner." He admitted that he is "lazy."

Obama was a colossal dude. Nice guy. Very bad president. You can't blame the republicans for Obama's incompetence. You can try. However, it is at "Obama's feet." The buck stops with the President. It always has and it always will.

The number of poor people has risen due to Obama killing the job creation in our country. He got a tax hike on the small businesses and delivered a healthcare penalty. As a former small business owner myself, there's a job stopper and blocks growing a business. Glad I sold my business when I did. I was in the right place at the right time. I feel sorry for small business owners in America today because Obama doesn't have their backs. He has his own "personal" agenda and it shows. It is very telling that his personal agenda continues to fail in our country....his legacy healthcare.....his cold shoulder to Israel.....and his attack on the rich who, by the way, got him elected in 2008. The liberals want to showcase the republicans who are rich. They should spend more time tallying up the number of "rich" democrats. People in America love to make money.....and it spares no political party.

Poverty will never go away in our country. There's really no such thing as an "even playing field" where all of us earn the same amount of money and live in government subsidized housing. Why? Because we aren't a socialist country and we never will be. Capitalism will never go away in America no matter how hard the liberals love to say they hate it. Don't like capitalism? If you are receiving social security, medicare and medicaid....those social programs are funded by the rich as 47% of Americans pay no taxes at all for various reasons.

Liberals seem to enjoy shooting themselves in the foot because basically you are socialist thinking Americans. You want everyone to have the same thing. Won't work in our country. Never will.

By the way, no one is blaming the poor for being poor. It's about the lack of jobs....high unemployment....higher taxes to the small businesses and the healthcare penalty "tax." When a country cannot grow "jobs" people cannot work. When people cannot work, they go on the government payroll.

Obama has killed job creation in our country in many many ways. The best thing that our country can hope for is that we can wave goodbye to Obama in 2016. The democrats will be hard pressed to elect another democrat in 2016 after Obama's eight years of no growth in our country and continued high employment. His Obamacare is a joke....and was never impressive. It was destined to fail. And it has.

I've stated publicly 100 times or more. George W. Bush will look like a saint by 2016 next to Obama's failures. GWB did many things right so much so that Obama has kept nearly every policy Bush put in place.....in place. That's telling.

I read the articles presented by the person submitting them. I read others comments, it shows they cared enough to write their own thoughts. I don't read articles used to make a point or challenge what is offered. If that is what the person commenting wishes to offer as their challenge, then a link will do.

I would betcha that Diane didn't read the links offered to her. Yet, she comes back to attempt to bully others into accepting her world view, as the only reasonable option. That just does not work, Diane.

We are all adults, have all come our own opinions through the roads we have walked. We just are not that easy to bully.

I believe the topic on the table is a discussion about poverty in the United States of America.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 5:54 pm
Noted. There is such a disconnect between folks on paper and folks as they are. Polls don't capture it. Town Hall Meetings don't. The low percentage of people that call their Senator's or Rep.'s Aide don't. Yesterday, I got my first-ever email response to a petition I signed from a Senator not over my area. I was looking forward to seeing how he responded to something I'd not seen addressed by him. It hit me in the gut as I read statistics that weren't correct and the language clearly chosen to distort and, not being dramatic, to deceive. This guy has been talked about as a Presidential hopeful in the next election. I don't know what, short of divine interventon, will so significantly turn the tide of folks so in love with the status quo that those who are struggling are met where they are, brought into the fold and honoured as 'one of us'. Because 'us' is a lot different and more varied than we Americans are willing to admit.

As a global development organization, Oxfam believes poverty is about power, not scarcity. Our nation has long presented itself to the world as the model of successful, inclusive growth that lifts millions into the middle class. While that was true during the decades after World War II, since the 1970s, the story has been very different.

That is simply not the case today. America’s poverty rate is now at its highest level in two generations. Poverty is the result of imbalances in power that privilege some and marginalize others. More than mere economics, poverty affects human rights.

We can always depend upon Diane to come up with statements like this "....because people live at the poverty level for different reasons. We, as a country, cannot control personal choices."

Yes, Diane, people wake up more and more each morning, saying I want to live in poverty, gee, what personal choices can I make so I can end up in that situation. Must be true Diane, more and more people are longing to be poor, live in poverty, for as the statistics show, the poverty rate is at it's highest level in two generations. Must be a trend, an epicdemic of personal choices to be hungry, cold, and live in sub standard housing.

Well as I've said in other places I'm not a big fan of a lot of things of his, but to lay everything at his feet is wrong too Diane. What is it with Obama you really do not like? For it is always Obama. So what is it? His black face? There is plenty of incompetance to go around, with both Parties, from the White House, Senate, and the House, to our Supreme Court, and the Lobbyist that push these policies that have created much of the poverty. But you wouldn't see that Diane, that policies where the wealth of the Country has gone up to the 1% has not made it down to the rest of the people who live in this Country.

You keep offering the same old Obama bashing theme, but do you ever look at the "full" picture of things? It is not enough to be an intellectual if you do not have compassion. That is the trouble with our Country, too many of these intellectuals that can make profit, policies, but fail to take into account how their actions impact upon Humanity.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 7:31 pm
Thank you Sheryl!! I am happy to see your comment as I have previously picked out the exact same statement from Diane (".because people live at the poverty level for different reasons. We, as a country, cannot control personal choices." ) and made a comment which, revisiting here now I find gone, disappeared.

That sentence alone in its outrageously arrogant form is reason enough to not read on whatever comes from that source.

Exactly no one make a choice for poverty. It takes a mind and a heart being fully detached from the real world of real people. For Diane this is not about Poverty in America, this is just one more opportunity to whine, and complain about the president. This same stuck needle repeating itself over and over. If I were she I would find a place where my own thinking was welcomed.

Thursday April 4, 2013, 8:41 pm
A point, Kit, but remember that she said "I am here to share my information. If you don't like it, that's fine with me", so "sharing her information" appears to be something like a somewhat fanatic drive. And she topped it all now by speaking Romey's language...unbelievable. You need to fight and pull by the root all these Rand followers!

Thursday April 4, 2013, 8:47 pm
in·for·ma·tion
noun \ˌin-fər-ˈmā-shən\
Definition of INFORMATION
1
: the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence
2
a (1) : knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction (2) : intelligence, news (3) : facts, data
b : the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects
c (1) : a signal or character (as in a communication system or computer) representing data (2) : something (as a message, experimental data, or a picture) which justifies change in a construct (as a plan or theory) that represents physical or mental experience or another construct
d : a quantitative measure of the content of information; specifically : a numerical quantity that measures the uncertainty in the outcome of an experiment to be performed
3
: the act of informing against a person
4
: a formal accusation of a crime made by a prosecuting officer as distinguished from an indictment presented by a grand jury

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/information

I question whether it was a misnomer Angelika--seems to be at least an overstatement of what was shared. Perhaps the word below fits better (first or second meaning)?
Definition of opinion (n)

bing.com · Bing Dictionary
o·pin·ion
[ ə pínnyən ]

1. personal view: the view somebody takes about an issue, especially when it is based solely on personal judgment
2. estimation: a view regarding the worth of somebody or something
3. expert view: an expert assessment of something

Thursday April 4, 2013, 8:50 pm
Personally, I do donate to Oxfam and even Oxfam America, they show that they're identifying the issue and trying their best to correct and help. Hope many others, who are in a position to afford donating will do so.
Time leaders realize that poverty of such a large scale is also a security threat, but what can even best intentions get done if they get rocks thrown in their way.
To "love making money" is one thing, what you do with all that money is another.

Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is spread unintentionally. It is distinguished from disinformation by motive in that misinformation is simply erroneous, while disinformation, in contrast, is intended to mislead.[1] When comparing misinformation to disinformation, Jurgen Habermas says that the motives play an active role in the effect the information has. Misinformation may have a less devastating effect in that readers can criticize what they have read and evaluate it as truth or fiction. Authors will also have to give reasoning for their beliefs and support their statements with facts.[2]

I think it fair to say that what we see here is not offering information, rather just dissembling on the point, of discussion. It's rather presumptuous that we need turn to one oracle for information. It's rather obvious that everyone has access to the same information. How much empathy one attaches to that information is very different. Or should that a focus be on the lack of empathy one is showing?

BTW, I would not read Andrew Breitbart when he was alive and posting his slanderous excuse for "journalism" why would I care to read those who tread in his footsteps? I would not.

Friday April 5, 2013, 3:26 am
Gloria, I hear the distress in your voice, it is the same distress so many are faced with. Is there an Agency in your Community that you can contact. Not sure how old you are but if you meet the Senior requirements they may be able to offer a lower priced rental.

I know that even these options are drying up, the list for housing help in this area has been closed since 2009 due to the list being so long and there is no idea when it will ever open up again. Our woods are loaded with people who have nowhere else left to go. But so many come to Florida to keep from freezing to death in the winter but perhaps in your area it might offer something.

Friday April 5, 2013, 7:27 am
Thank you Gloria and Dandelion--we now have a face to represent the millions coping with such distressing circumstances. Multiply the distress by the millions and feel the pain to move you to act to do something to help rather than point the finger at someone else.

Friday April 5, 2013, 8:59 am
I realize that there are many around the world who are far worse off than Americans. But I see no reason to continue to drive down America under that as an excuse. I see no reason to continue to support the corporatist solutions of the past 30 years. I see no reason to continue to balme Americans for not having josb when those jobs are being taken away from them so that the rich can be richer.

While I believe in hard work and would love to see people employed, I will not defend these business practices.

I agree Nancy. If not for the capitalists continued pursuit of the dollar over the need of human interest, NAZI Germany may not have come to power as rapidly nor as powerfully. It was American, Canadian and European capitalist corporations that went in to build the infrastructure that seeded the ground for the German war machine. A corporation does not have a beating heart, it cares not about what it leaves in it's wake.

Humans alone, we claim can attempt to plan for the future. When the primary motivation is the quick and dirty profit, the humans making the decisions for the corporate plans, do not look at the human cost or potential, that's proven to be a dangerous out come for humans.

While corporations continue to behave in this outrageous manner that builds or creates wars, we do have the ability to put the brakes on them. When a corporate entity is small enough to be responsible to it's community, then we do get jobs, good jobs with fair pay and safety for the workers, in turn the corporate entity makes a profit. Good jobs means less poverty, and more exchange of good and services.

Friday April 5, 2013, 12:12 pm
I think it's obvious that government does not really care about the 99% of people and represents the interests of the 1% and big businesses. Unless and until the common folk band together and send the message loud and clear that they won't put up with it any longer, things are not going to change, except toward the long, slippery slope downward. I bet our grandparents' generation would never have believed how things have become here.

Saturday April 6, 2013, 7:06 am
Diane, you are a colossal fraud. You love to blame Obama for what he hasn't done despite the fact that 41 Senators representing 16% of the American people filibustered every job creation bill as well as nearly anything else worth doing and since the Republicans gerrymandered themselves into control of the house nothing worth doing ever gets passed.

Every problem we have is the result of Republican (and in some cases like Clinton, corporatist Democrats) actions and/or policies.

And FYI, socialism allows capitalism to exist in a healthy fashion. It's no surprise that the countries that are the most socialistic are the countries weathering this economy the best. Sweden, being the most socialistic country on Earth also has many highly profitable corporations on a global basis. When unfettered capitalism is allowed, capitalism always destroys itself and it's country's economy. Rational restrictions need to be in place. The founders of the country knew that and required every corporation to serve the good of the consumer before it's own good or lose their corporate charter.

Saturday April 6, 2013, 7:13 am
Oh, I hadn't noticed your fraud regarding the unemployment rate, it's 7.6, not 9.7. And Bush's rate was artificially lowered by between 50-100% by changing the standards. In Obama's 1st year more jobs were created than in Bush's entire 8 years and it was accomplished during the Bush great recession. Bush came into office with a huge surplus and a good economy, doubled the debt and caused an economic meltdown by following the stupidity of believing conservatives have rational economic ideas.